Wireless cable for kitchen TV??

buildinvaJuly 21, 2013

I mentioned to my contractor that I'd like to have a small tv in my kitchen and he suggested I explore wireless options for the cable so I don't have to retro-fit a cable somewhere (I did t think of it earlier). He isnt into technology, but said he has heard that you can have a tv in one room and the cable box in another and it's all wireless. Does anyone have this or know more about it? Thanks!

Slingbox has another approach, but I don't think it's as good because the TV show itself isn't streamed but the entire user interface of your cable box -- it requires higher bandwidth and won't be as high quality.

If you don't need live TV, you can use something like Apple TV or Roku and use Internet services (like Netflix) only.

Unless it's extremely difficult to get access into your kitchen, I think it would be better just to run an additional cable outlet. You'll get better quality that way. Even with the wireless approaches, you still need to deal with other cables (e.g. HDMI) in the setup.

Actually, to my post above it looks like Tivo Mini requires a wired Ethernet connection to get the signal. It does eliminate the issue of getting the coax cable into the kitchen, but you might not be setup for wired Ethernet either.

At some point, the cable providers like Comcast are going to enable their cable services directly over wireless (meaning never going through your cable line). Comcast has an app called XFinity which you can use on a tablet to view cable content. I don't think it is available yet on Apple TV / Roku / Xbox yet, but that will probably happen at some point in the future.

In Canada, Bell Fibe is wireless... commercials for it are running all the time here (linked below). If it's available from main carriers up here I'm sure the US carriers must have it too. I would check with one of the major fibe providers in your area.

If you just want to avoid the PVR or receiver, but are okay with the coax cable itself, then you can buy a dual-zone PVR which runs two separate channels. We have that for a TV that we wall-mounted in our ensuite bath so that we didn't have to worry about mounting a separate pvr there.

My daughter has wireless cable for tv in her house. In this area it is provided by AT&T. Below is a link that explains it. The link has a vidoe to show how it is set up. You would need to see if your local phone company provides such an option

If you need a wired ethernet port, I have used a Netgear device that provides ethernet over powerline reliably for several years with a Roku box for Netflix and Amazon Video.

Once every blue moon I'll see a 'buffering' message.
It literally took 5 minutes to get it working, and I haven't touched it since I installed it.

The version I have is a back level of this one:http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Powerline-Wireless-N-Extender-XAVNB2001/dp/B0046SQ8VW/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1374461565&sr=1-12&keywords=powerline+ethernet

Looks like there are a lot more choice now.

I'd recommend this over pure wireless, especially right at this moment. (I'm not buying any more wireless stuff unless it is 802.11 ac compatible). Plus less risk of speed variances.

I bought a Belkin @TV Plus - Mobile Television Anywhere. It was inexpensive (around 100 on Ebay) and it is totally wireless. It comes with a free app for Ipad and even loaded it on the Kindle Fire. I have a touchscreen MSI all-in-one computer that can be moved from place to place. This works very well with my dual band router and very fast internet connection.